"When I fight, I try to be a role model with the young Asian-Americans around here," Phan recently told MMAjunkie.com Radio (www.mmajunkie.com/radio). "When I was brought up, there was no Asian-American role model. There was no one to look up to." Phan is proud of his Vietnamese heritage, and he takes equal pride in helping to guide the youth that live in his predominantly Asian-American neighborhood.